“This is the best story in the world today — these projections show us that we are the first generation in human history that can end extreme poverty," said Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank.
According to World Bank projections, about 702 million people, or 9.6 per cent of the world population, will live below the poverty line this year, mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
In 2012, that number stood at 902 million, or about 13 per cent of the world population.
It stood at 29 per cent in 1999.